


Greeting Cards Have All Been Sent

by BroadwayBaggins



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: Children, Christmas Cards, Epistolary, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 22:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8772532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayBaggins/pseuds/BroadwayBaggins
Summary: Emma Green receives a Christmas card.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MercuryGray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryGray/gifts).



“A letter for you, Miss Green.”

Emma turned from her patient, a boy from Georgia who couldn’t have been much older than Alice. He was sweet and shy and prone to blushing, and for the past hour she had been trying to coax him into allowing her to write a letter to his family informing them of his whereabouts. For some reason, he was concerned that admitting that he was in a Union hospital was as bad as admitting to his father that he was, in his words, a “yellow-bellied Yankee coward.”

“Excuse me,” she murmured to him, standing up and crossing over to Samuel. Her brow furrowed in a frown. “Who would send me a letter here?” she asked, confused. Samuel shrugged and shook his head, saying he did not know, but there was a flicker of a smile that made Emma wonder if he suspected something, or else knew more than he was letting on. He offered her the envelope, but she did not open it just yet. She had patients to see, and was far too busy to wonder who on earth would have a letter posted to her father’s hotel instead of her home address.

The letter stayed in her pocket until that evening, when the lamps had burned low and most of the men had drifted off to sleep. Only then did Emma take the letter from her pocket, turning it over in her hand once, twice, before carefully slitting it open. From it she carefully drew out a piece of folded paper, a childish drawing of a Christmas tree scribbled across it in green crayon. She smiled as she opened it.

_My dear Miss Green,_

_Forgive me for being so presumptuous as to send you a card. I know my departure from Mansion House was a bit abrupt and unexpected, and I thought you were deserving of an explanation. Please forgive also my choice of writing material–my nieces and I were busy making Christmas cards and letters for Santa this morning, and Annabel insisted I use this one for you. She has also signed it. I’m afraid I’ve told her and her sister so much about you they feel they know you already_.

_I was not intending to journey back to Pennsylvania this holiday season. However, my sister Prudence, who has never been in particularly good health, recently delivered her third child, a boy, and the birth proved difficult on both of them. My brother-in-law saw fit to send for me, so that I may lift Pru’s spirits. As usual, he was right–her health has greatly improved in the few days since I have left Virginia. My nephew thrives as well–I wish that you could see him, Miss Green, for there is something about beholding a brand-new baby, particularly around Christmastime, that lifts the soul._

_i am happy that I was able to come to my sister’s side, and happier still that I can spend time with my family. But I miss my other family as well, the staff and patients of Mansion House, and it is my hope that I will return to you all very soon. It is a little less than three weeks to Christmas, and I intend to return in order to conduct Christmas Eve services for the men. It is good to be home, but I feel as if I am a man of two homes now, and my obligations in Virginia as well as my friends there remain always on my mind._

_I think of you often, Miss Green. When I helped the girls string up popcorn on their Christmas tree, I wondered if you, too, had happy memories of decorating for the season with your family. When I take them sledding or skating on the pond, I wish you were there with us. Forgive me for speaking so plainly–perhaps distance has made me bold, or else being so long in the company of children has compelled me to speak as honestly as they do. In either case, you are never far from my thoughts._

_Please give my best to Doctor Foster and Nurse Mary and Mr. Diggs, and tell the men that I am thinking of them and that they remain always in my prayers. I know that in my absence, I could not have left them in more capable hands. Care for them well, as I know you will, and God willing I will see you soon._

_Yours fondly,_

_Henry Hopkins._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm slowly trying to catch up on Advent prompts! This combines Day 4 with a prompt sent to me on tumblr by mercurygray, who asked for Emmry and "things you said with too many miles between us." Title comes from the song "Merry Christmas Darling."


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